DESPITE SOME RECENT frustration when it comes to team selection, Jimmy O’Brien is optimistic a strong performance in Leinster’s United Rugby Championship clash with Ospreys at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow could keep him in the frame for the business end of the season.
When Leinster kick-started their European Champions Cup knockout campaign for 2025-26 with a Round of 16 encounter against Edinburgh on 5 April, O’Brien was given the nod to start and helped himself to a first half try in an eventual 49-31 triumph for the Blues.
Yet the final-quarter of that contest saw Rieko Ioane switching to O’Brien’s position on the left-wing and the All Blacks star donned the number 11 jersey for subsequent Champions Cup knockout wins over Sale Sharks and Toulon.
While O’Brien can play across the back-three – and is also capable of featuring at outside centre – usurping the likes of Ioane, Hugo Keenan or his namesake Tommy O’Brien for tomorrow week’s European Champions Cup final against Bordeaux Bègles in Bilbao will be no easy task.
However, a spot amongst the replacements might well be up for grabs and with a quarter-final on the horizon at the very least in the URC, O’Brien will hope a positive outing tomorrow evening can leave an impression on Leo Cullen and his fellow Leinster coaches.
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“If you don’t get selected or things aren’t going your way, you’re trying to look for things to do or a couple of things to improve on. Hopefully you’re trying to play better the next time you get selected. That’s probably a big one. When you do get your chances, trying to take them,” O’Brien explained at a Leinster media briefing in UCD earlier this week.
“You’re treating it like a very big game every game, because you might not get selected next week. There’s competition here, so you’re treating every game like a big game. There’s a lot of good games coming up, so the Champions Cup next week and then the [URC] quarter-final.
“We’ll see after that and hopefully we get through. There’s big games for the end of the season and I just want to be playing in them. The best way to do that is to perform well, so they can’t leave you out.”
O’Brien certainly remains firmly in Cullen’s thoughts when it comes to the URC with the versatile 29-year-old having played – and started – in Leinster’s last six games in the competition.
His most recent appearance for the defending champions was in a round 17 clash against the Lions last Saturday in the Aviva, when he was named in the back-three alongside Ciaran Frawley and Andrew Osborne just seven days after missing out on the match day 23 for an aforementioned Champions Cup semi-final bout with Toulon in the same venue.
Scoring a try against Ulster despite the efforts of Jacob Stockdale. Grace Halton / INPHO
Grace Halton / INPHO / INPHO
He was generally satisfied with how the game went for both himself and Leinster with his late try (bringing his personal haul up to five for the season) propelling the hosts towards a 31-7 bonus point victory.
“I was happy with how it went at the weekend. I thought the team performed pretty well against a strong Lions squad. That happens, you usually end up playing alright if everyone else is playing alright around you. I was happy how it went and delighted towards the end. We pulled away and got a couple of extra tries, so we got the five points.”
Although he has made 15 appearances in blue during the present campaign, hamstring issues ensured O’Brien was ruled out for a number of games either side of starting at full-back in a Champions Cup pool stage win away to Bayonne on 17 January of this year.
This meant he missed out on Andy Farrell’s initial 37-strong Ireland squad for the Six Nations back in the spring. Yet after finally returning to competitive action in Leinster’s URC defeat to Cardiff on 27 February, O’Brien was recalled to the Irish set-up for the closing two rounds of the Championship.
He didn’t see game time as Ireland collected their fourth Triple Crown in the space of five years, but the Eadestown man was nonetheless encouraged that international head coach Farrell brought him back into the fold.
“I had that URC game in the middle and then got called in. I kind of knew I wasn’t going to be playing because I was only called in for the last two weeks, but it was brilliant to get back in amongst the lads. I’m obviously good friends with everyone in there and it’s obviously good to be in there around the coaches. I was happy with that,” O’Brien added.
“You don’t want them forgetting about you. Hopefully now I can put a few games together towards the end of the season and hopefully get selected for the summer tour.”
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'You're treating it like a very big game every game' - O'Brien keen to nail his place
DESPITE SOME RECENT frustration when it comes to team selection, Jimmy O’Brien is optimistic a strong performance in Leinster’s United Rugby Championship clash with Ospreys at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow could keep him in the frame for the business end of the season.
When Leinster kick-started their European Champions Cup knockout campaign for 2025-26 with a Round of 16 encounter against Edinburgh on 5 April, O’Brien was given the nod to start and helped himself to a first half try in an eventual 49-31 triumph for the Blues.
Yet the final-quarter of that contest saw Rieko Ioane switching to O’Brien’s position on the left-wing and the All Blacks star donned the number 11 jersey for subsequent Champions Cup knockout wins over Sale Sharks and Toulon.
While O’Brien can play across the back-three – and is also capable of featuring at outside centre – usurping the likes of Ioane, Hugo Keenan or his namesake Tommy O’Brien for tomorrow week’s European Champions Cup final against Bordeaux Bègles in Bilbao will be no easy task.
However, a spot amongst the replacements might well be up for grabs and with a quarter-final on the horizon at the very least in the URC, O’Brien will hope a positive outing tomorrow evening can leave an impression on Leo Cullen and his fellow Leinster coaches.
“If you don’t get selected or things aren’t going your way, you’re trying to look for things to do or a couple of things to improve on. Hopefully you’re trying to play better the next time you get selected. That’s probably a big one. When you do get your chances, trying to take them,” O’Brien explained at a Leinster media briefing in UCD earlier this week.
“You’re treating it like a very big game every game, because you might not get selected next week. There’s competition here, so you’re treating every game like a big game. There’s a lot of good games coming up, so the Champions Cup next week and then the [URC] quarter-final.
O’Brien certainly remains firmly in Cullen’s thoughts when it comes to the URC with the versatile 29-year-old having played – and started – in Leinster’s last six games in the competition.
His most recent appearance for the defending champions was in a round 17 clash against the Lions last Saturday in the Aviva, when he was named in the back-three alongside Ciaran Frawley and Andrew Osborne just seven days after missing out on the match day 23 for an aforementioned Champions Cup semi-final bout with Toulon in the same venue.
He was generally satisfied with how the game went for both himself and Leinster with his late try (bringing his personal haul up to five for the season) propelling the hosts towards a 31-7 bonus point victory.
“I was happy with how it went at the weekend. I thought the team performed pretty well against a strong Lions squad. That happens, you usually end up playing alright if everyone else is playing alright around you. I was happy how it went and delighted towards the end. We pulled away and got a couple of extra tries, so we got the five points.”
Although he has made 15 appearances in blue during the present campaign, hamstring issues ensured O’Brien was ruled out for a number of games either side of starting at full-back in a Champions Cup pool stage win away to Bayonne on 17 January of this year.
This meant he missed out on Andy Farrell’s initial 37-strong Ireland squad for the Six Nations back in the spring. Yet after finally returning to competitive action in Leinster’s URC defeat to Cardiff on 27 February, O’Brien was recalled to the Irish set-up for the closing two rounds of the Championship.
He didn’t see game time as Ireland collected their fourth Triple Crown in the space of five years, but the Eadestown man was nonetheless encouraged that international head coach Farrell brought him back into the fold.
“I had that URC game in the middle and then got called in. I kind of knew I wasn’t going to be playing because I was only called in for the last two weeks, but it was brilliant to get back in amongst the lads. I’m obviously good friends with everyone in there and it’s obviously good to be in there around the coaches. I was happy with that,” O’Brien added.
“You don’t want them forgetting about you. Hopefully now I can put a few games together towards the end of the season and hopefully get selected for the summer tour.”
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